


The Way the Cookie Crumbles

by BergaraHoe (flannelfeelings)



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment
Genre: Babysitting, Comfort, Cutesy, Dad!Ryan, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluffy, Fluffy Ending, Gay, Gay parenting, Happy, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Love, M/M, Mild Angst, OC Ryan's daughter, Parent Shyan, Protective Ryan, Protective Shane, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej - Freeform, Single Dad Ryan, Single parent Ryan, Unbeta'd, Worried Shane Madej, cutie fic, parenting fic, pure fluff, self doubt, shane-centric, shyan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22334818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flannelfeelings/pseuds/BergaraHoe
Summary: Shane is excited. Tonight marks the first time he is babysitting his boyfriend's daughter all by himself. He knows he's up to the challenge.Or is he?
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 6
Kudos: 171





	The Way the Cookie Crumbles

**Author's Note:**

> Not affiliated with anyone- all a fictitious representation! Just for funsies
> 
> Enjoy some parenting fluff!

Tonight was a big night.

Shane and Ryan had been officially dating for four months now, though they’d been best friends for much, much longer. Things were going very well, and they were both incredibly happy being with one another.

Tonight, however, Shane’s happiness was a bit muddied by anxiety. He was excited, because it was going to be his first time watching Ryan’s daughter Araceli by himself. It was also why he was immensely nervous.

The six year old, whom everyone had nicknamed LiLi, was smart, cheerful, funny as hell and rambunctious, just like her father. She bore Ryan’s trademark messy black curls, and shared his wide brown eyes, paired firmly with his dark, smooth skin. She was the most beautiful child Shane had ever met, which made sense given who her father was.

He wasn’t nervous that she was going to misbehave, he’d known her her whole life, she was a very disciplined child. He knew she’d make this as easy as possible on him. Yet, if he still managed to fuck it up, if he somehow did something to sour this experience or do _anything_ that would make Ryan’s little girl unhappy, he knew that this wouldn’t work out. LiLi was the most important person in Ryan’s life, and she always would be, which Shane would never want to change. That simply meant Shane was going to have to be extra, extra careful. 

Ryan was going into the office tonight to help another Buzzfeed crew with a Halloween video they’d enlisted him for. Normally, Ryan’s mom would watch LiLi, but she and Dr. Bergara were out of town this week.

When Shane offered to hang out with her, Ryan got possibly the biggest grin Shane had ever seen on his face, “Yeah?”

Shane had shrugged, “Sure! We already see each other almost everyday. We don’t need you to have fun!” he smirked, but reconsidered, “we _want_ you though.”

That is how he ended up in Ryan’s living room at 7:30 on a Friday night. Ryan was just finishing gathering the last of his things before heading out, giving Shane a rundown of LiLi’s routine; which Shane already knew.

“So she’s had a bath already,” Ryan said aloud, as if he was checking off the list more for himself than Shane, “just ate dinner, room is clean…” he pursed his lips, glancing up at Shane. “All she needs to do tonight is brush her teeth and go to bed. That’s it. Everything else is up to you. Bedtime is-”

“I know Ryan, 9 on the weekend!” Shane smiled at his worried boyfriend, “we do this every night, you know?”

Ryan flushed. “Sorry. I know. I didn’t mean to helicopter. You’ll be fine.” He glanced at his phone, cursing. “I’m running late, I’ve got to go. I should be back in a few hours.” He popped up on his tippy toes and pressed a quick kiss to Shane’s mouth. “Have fun you two!”

“Bye Daddy!” LiLi ran in from the kitchen and wrapped her short arms around Ryan’s legs; her head barely made it past his knees. Shane smiled; she was going to be short, just like Ryan.

Once Ryan had cleared the apartment parking lot, Shane turned to LiLi expectantly. She gave him a dimpled grin, and he found himself chuckling.

“You look eager,” he said as he moved across the living room to take a seat on the couch.

“What’s eager?” she asked, a frown creasing her brow as she moved and climbed up on his lap. His heart felt warm as she did so, even though this was something they did often.

“Eager is excited,” he explained, “like you’re waiting for something.”

“I am excited!” she responded matter-of-factly. “Shane can we make a fort?”

Shane knew that Ryan wouldn’t like it if they made the apartment into a huge mess, but he also knew he couldn’t resist Araceli’s big puppy dog eyes that reminded him so much of his boyfriend. “Sure!” he said without much consideration.

The fort-building commenced rather quickly. They gathered sheets and blankets from both LiLi and Ryan’s beds, and tons of pillows. It was quite grand once finished; spanning the length of the entire couch and the recliner beside it. Luckily, they left an open space for the TV so they could still watch _Hercules_ in safety from inside the fort.

“Who do you like best on the movie?” LiLi asked.

Shane pursed his lips, “Who do _you_ like best?”

“Hercules!”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“Cause he’s the good guy. He always wants to help people and he’s nice and strong. He’s like Daddy.”

Shane felt himself smiling widely at her words, “He _is_ like Daddy. He’s my favorite too.”

They watched the movie for another half hour, making comments to one another, joking about the plot, even teasing one another. LiLi really got Shane when she said he was stinky like the bad guy’s shoes. He obviously had no retort to that obscene burn.

About halfway through the movie she asked, “Shane can I have a cookie?”

He glanced at the clock. It was 8:45, getting close to bedtime. He probably shouldn’t let her have sugar this late. Yet, the words that came out of his mouth were, “Sure LiLi. Let me go grab it.”

“No no I wanna do it!” she started scrambling to her feet.

Shane remembered that the oreos were awfully high up in the cabinets. “Can you reach?” he asked doubtfully.

“Yes!” she scoffed, “I get them by myself all the time.”

“Okay…” he replied unsurely, but LiLi wasn’t usually one to lie. If she said she could get them, he wanted to trust her.

He listened to her bare feet pad into the kitchen. It was quiet for a moment and he heard the cabinet door open and rustling from inside.

“LiLi?” he called nervously into the kitchen.

“Just...getting...the... _whoa!_ ” Her sentence was cut off by a loud _thump_!

For Shane, it was a long way up from the floor to his feet. Yet, he’d never stood up faster than he did in that moment. It took him all of five seconds to reach the kitchen to see LiLi on the floor, the oreos spilled around her and the cabinet door open. His mind put together the pieces of what must’ve happened. She realized she couldn’t reach, climbed up on the countertop to get to the right shelf, and fallen.

“Araceli!” he dropped to his knees beside her, checking for any visible injuries. She was sitting up and didn’t appear to be bleeding anywhere.

“I’m okay!” she said quickly, glancing around her at the spilled cookies, “Sorry Shane.”

“ _Don’t_ be sorry!” Panic was starting to seep into his voice, but he tried to remain calm so he didn’t freak her out. “What did you fall on?”

She glanced around them like he was crazy, “The kitchen floor?”

“Which _body part_ LiLi?!”

“Oh!” her face flushed red, “my hip. I’m okay Shane!”

He took her hands and helped her stand up. She seemed steady. Shane slightly pushed the hem of her pajama pants down and gasped as he saw the dark purple bruise beginning to form on her side.

_Oh god._

_Oh god._

_Oh god._

_Oh god._

_I bruised his child!_

“Shane?” LiLi asked quietly, “are you alive?”

He blinked rapidly, meeting her eyes. “LiLi I’m so so sorry, are you okay?”

The six-year old seemed completely unbothered by her spill and the bruise forming. “It doesn’t even hurt. Why are _you_ sorry?”

Shane sat back against the lower cabinets, wondering how the hell he’d be able to explain this to his boyfriend. He was supposed to be responsible for her. It was his job to keep her safe from harm for just a few hours. And he’d managed to get her hurt over _cookies_. If he couldn’t protect her for a few hours, how could Ryan ever trust him to be a good stepdad?

LiLi reached down to grab an oreo off the tile, and Shane quickly said, “Hey, you know we don’t eat off the floor!”

LiLi smiled at him, and held a cookie out, “I won’t tell Dad.”

Shane felt himself smiling in spite of his own guilt-ridden mind as he took the cookie from her, watching her pick up another for herself. They each took a bite, a small taste of solidarity.

He sent her off to brush her teeth while he started cleaning up the cookie mess. His mind pitifully ran through all the ways he’d fucked up tonight.

  1. _Made a mess of the living room_
  2. _Made a mess of the kitchen_
  3. _Gave LiLi sugar at 9pm_
  4. _Araceli got hurt_



The last one continued to ricochet in his mind.

Even though she was immensely tough and cool and didn’t seem to care at all about falling, Shane knew that this would not be acceptable. She was _bruised_ for crying out loud! Ryan had left her with Shane in perfect condition and he was getting her back injured. He didn’t even know if he could face his boyfriend tonight.

Shane got LiLi all tucked into bed at 9:05. He read her the story of the _Princess and the Pea_ , which got rave reviews from her. He checked her bruise one more time to make sure it didn’t look any worse (thankfully, it didn’t) and he got up to head for her door.

“Hey Shane?” she called out as he reached the doorway.

He turned to face her, “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Shane felt like melting into the floor. This was the first time LiLi had said it to him. Though, Shane always knew it, sometimes kids didn’t really think to say that kind of thing unless you said it first. Which he hadn’t; not wanting to make her uncomfortable. Though, he _did_ love her. He loved her as if she were his own daughter. Which was why he felt a small wetness forming in his eyes at her words.

“I love you too LiLi.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t ask you for help.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry you got hurt,” Shane replied softly.

“Daddy won’t be mad at you, don’t worry.” She gave him a toothy smile, “that _always_ happens when I try to get the cookies myself.”

Before Shane could respond, he heard the front door open and panic leaked into his veins. He still hadn’t cleaned up the fort mess in the living room, and LiLi was technically supposed to be asleep by now.

He pointed at her, “you’re snoozing!” and he exited her room quickly. He heard her fake a snore and suppressed a laugh as he headed down the hall to meet his boyfriend.

Ryan stood in the doorway, bag slung over his shoulder, eyes wide as he appraised the fort disaster in his apartment.

“Hey!” Shane greeted him with faux nonchalance. “How was the shoot babe?”

Ryan glanced up to meet Shane’s eyes, and the taller man could see he was trying to keep his cool about the mess. Ryan didn’t like mess in his home.

“It was good,” he said carefully. “I see you guys had fun?”

Shane smiled, though it felt forced. “We did. Uh…” he scratched his neck nervously, smile falling. “Except for one thing.”

Ryan’s head snapped sideways in the direction of his daughter’s bedroom. “Except for what? Was she bad?”

“No no!” Shane insisted, “uh...maybe we should sit down?”

Ryan cautiously moved through the tornado of his living room to sit on the clear side of the couch, eyes suspicious. “You’re kinda freaking me out here babe.”

Shane sat across from him, taking a deep breath anxiously. “I...I screwed up Ryan.”

“Shane, you’re gonna have to be like a _thousand_ times less cryptic.”

“Sorry.” Shane ran a hand through his hair, trying to inhale air as if it could fix this problem, “We just had a small _accident._ ”

Ryan’s eyes were immediately wider than saucers, and he moved to head in the direction of his daughters room. Shane quickly stood, but didn’t stop him. He watched Ryan rush down the hall and push LiLi’s door open.

Apparently seeing nothing out of place, the younger man exited her room and walked back into the living room, a frown creasing his brow.

“She seems fine…” he said cautiously.

Shane sighed once more, accepting his fate, “She asked me if she could have a cookie and I said yes. I’m sorry I know it’s late but I couldn’t say no. I went to get if for her but she insisted she could do it herself…” he cringed, recounting in his head the sound of her body hitting the tile floor, “she fell off the counter. She got a bruise. Ryan I’m _so so_ sorry. I understand if you don’t trust me anymore, I-“

“Shane!” Ryan interrupted his rambling by grasping his cheeks and pulling him close, “babe, deep breath.”

Shane followed his boyfriend's example and inhaled gently, eyes unmoving from Ryan’s.

“You are the _sweetest_ man I’ve ever met.” Ryan said softly, “There is no other person on Earth that I would trust more to help me raise my daughter. Babe, you gotta let some of this pressure off yourself. LiLi falls all the damn time.”

“She takes after you in that I guess.” Shane ribbed gently. Ryan snorted, and Shane continued, “but she didn’t even cry. She certainly got your toughness.”

“I _love_ that you were worried, babe. I love how much you care about us. That’s how I know you are the best man to be in our lives. _No_ parent is ever perfect. The other day I realized I forgot to put LiLi’s laundry in the dryer so she had to wear one of my t-shirts and unwashed leggings to school. Shit happens." He smiled warmly, and Shane felt his heartrate pickup at the sight of that familiar beam.

“What makes a good parent, is always doing your absolute best to put them first. Always caring and worrying and trying to be better.” Ryan leaned in and pressed his forehead against Shane’s, “ _You_ have done a better job of that in four months than some people do in a lifetime.”

“I learned from the best.” Shane murmured genuinely, smiling back at Ryan.

Softly, Ryan pressed his lips to Shane’s in a warm, sweet kiss before saying, “Don’t ever think I’ll be mad at you when an accident happens. Knowing my kid, it was probably all on her. My only takeaway from this is how much you care about my daughter. And that’s _always_ a nice thing to come home to.”

“I’m the luckiest man in the world.” Shane shook his head with immense relief, “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Bergara.”

“Funny, I was just thinking that myself.” Ryan replied with a wink. Then he sighed, and looked around at the mess in the living room, “Now get to work, big guy.”

Shane laughed good-naturedly and bent down to begin policing up the remnants of their couch fort. Ryan stooped down to help him, and they got it cleaned up, giggling the whole way through.

Shane sometimes felt like a fish out of water with this step dad thing, but Ryan was always there to jump back in the ocean with him. And he knew that just beneath the surface, his future husband and daughter would always be waiting for him.


End file.
